the time of singing has come!

Malachi 3:3 - He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She did not mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered, Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it.

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

waahh totally no mood now. quite lost. was looking so forward that my friend will be spending the whole day sabbath in church with me tmr. but she suddenly told me she doesnt feel like going. I think something big must have happened.. But I dun think I shld probe.. I left it at that but I really hope that she wont give up the search for the true God.. She's so near...

and amazing how this can completely turned my happy mood to become a disappointing one. I am very tired yet I feel that I cant sleep. I feel that I need to pray but I dun really gather the strength to do so. suddenly, I have no motivation to go for tmr's morning service.. ): I know that the road to God isn't going to be easy. But how can I get the strength to walk my own path, as well as guide the others on their own paths? My own path is already full of obstacles and challenges. and yet I have to help others on theirs! I need more strength, God...

please, girl. promise me you will not give up. Do this for yourself and for me and for all the people who may come to witness your faith. Edify us with your perseverance. Help me also see the hope of God through you. Grow together with me in the Lord?

anyway, went to semb church today. Bottle Tree Village is a nice place. then had a little ride around singapore. lol I enjoy car rides to nowhere. (:

LOVE forbidden city: portrait of an empress!!

LOVE their voices.
love the songs.
love the props and their costumes.
love the commitment and enthusiasm in their acting.
errrh basically, i really enjoyed myself.

I was like seated at the second row from the stage! But it wasn't bad at all. I could see the actors' facial expressions and all that. Can't help watching and analysing their acting. How they move on stage. How they project their voices. How they position themselves on stage. This is what happens after you've been exposed to drama. aaahhh I really think it's good to take part in such drama productions. Many things to be learnt. Actually I am quite motivated now. Hope I get a chance?

I was like thinking, if Im really interested in drama, i shld start to take some course right now already? cant waste any more time. Actually I am even more anxious to learn to sing correctly! I shld really take up some singing lessons.

It was also a nice fellowship with church brethrens, though it was quite rushed initially and we didnt chat alot. But Im glad I watched it with them. Im glad to hang out with people from church. feels safe. like God is really also in the midst.

today in school, faced some emotional stress. But overall, God sustained me and i ended school with a fun japanese class before making my way to the musical!

Aahhh but something I had look forward to for weeks has finally come, and go. That's life. What shall be the next thing to look forward to?

Oh.. anyway, my first time watching a musical and I decided that there will be many more to come!

I had a couple of things that i would like to blog about initially but my mood is somewhat affected by a depressed friend.

I find that I cant really communicate well with this small group of friends lately and it kind of upsets me. I tried analyzing it but I cant reach a good conclusion regarding this matter. Initially I kept thinking that "they just dun understand me, nor bother to do so." But then its too selfish of me to think that way...

And then now got to do project together. actually I have always thought doing project with your friends is a bad idea. finally I am met with such a situation now. I guess i am different when it comes to doing work. I get more critical and i try to question things that are not clear so that everyone may benefit from it. I think the only person I really enjoyed working with is SAM!! She knows my character best and we had a edifying time working together then for Project Work.

And then another thing I hypothesized regarding why I cant really communicate as well with them nowadays... I feel that they treat studies as being too important.. or rather they treat exams, project proposals..... anything that is gradable as the most important. Perhaps Im being too critical again. hai.. but i really needed an outlet for this man. Inevitably, being around them kind of suffocates me you know.. sometimes I rather be alone than hang around them.... ):

I feel that whatever situation we are made to face, whatever grades we are to obtain, whatever failures (as we deem it to be) we might face, they are all there to help us. God wouldnt give us more than we can bear. This is His assurance. And so I strived to have utmost faith in this. Of course, i fail too at times. So we really need to help one another. Thinking about my conversation with that friend just a half hr ago, I admit that I wasn't really helping her in any way... But i was really angered by her unreasonable train of thoughts. And also by her high emphasis on grades. I didnt know what to say. How to encourage her. I think I've got lots to learn. Perhaps its true, I am not her, I dunno how she feel. Similarly, when I was depressed, I also felt that nobody understood me...

Sorry, girl. I think only God can help us individually.

Oh, lets end with a happier note. God sustains and perserves me today. I survived today! thank God (:

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oh and I read some chapters of Job today. some verses, which I like, to share:

" "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" " Job 2:10

" "Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the feeble knees;
But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?" " Job 4:3-6

" "But as for me, I would seek God,
And to God I would commit my cause—
Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number." "Job 5:8-9

" "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole." " Job 5:17-18

" "Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself." " Job 5:27

haii depression is gonna set in again..?

really rather down, like Im not coping with school at all. But no, I am not depressed, am I? Friends keep saying i am. But school isn't even on the top of my list now. I am just a part-time student, and trying to be a full-time Christian. Not that I dun care about school totally. I do care, but peer pressures sometimes drag my mood down.. sometimes perhaps it would be better if I am left alone?

I want to be alone. with God.

my uncle-in-law just passed away. I really liked him. Although he is always in a semi-drunkard state, he is always jovial and like to tease the little children. He fell, perhaps just a few hrs (or even less) ago and his heartbeat stopped while on the way to the hospital. guess they couldnt save him. But i felt that God can, if He is willing.

so I prayed. I asked my friend to pray as well. Half of me feel that yes, God can revive him. yet half of me am not sure what I am really doing. I was kind of like lost... and helpless, unsure of what to do. Its not like im especially close to him. But I just felt that he is a good man, worthy to live at least a few more years. But perhaps it isn't for me to make such judgment. Just feel kind of weird, why the people around me seems to be falling sick, or dying.... I never hear other people's uncle commiting suicide because of the unbearable cancer. never hear how their grandpa fell and then became senile, totally reliant on the people around to care for him. never hear of how one's grandma was bedridden with stroke for many years before finally died suddenly in the middle of the night. Perhaps God's blessings is not with my family?

I came to realise that my church is a very family church. Many people are related to many other people. Yesterday a group of cousins went to a brother's house to stayover. Its like so fun. Everyone is in the true church. I have only myself now in the church. and the only one I am related to is God, i guess. or maybe not, since Im not yet baptised. (ha ha. ):) I cant wait for the day when my whole family will be in church as well. Or sometimes, I cant wait to start my own family tree in church. but while all these are still taking time... some in my family are taken away from me. What shld i do?

I prayed to God just now that I promised to be more diligent in my preaching work, and begged God to let my uncle live. I realised i've not put in enough effort recently. Perhaps it is a wake up call from God that anyone might just leave me suddenly, so i've better not slack. But... as i was praying, i was also thinking... if God had used my uncle to be a wake up call for me, isn't it unfair to my uncle? even unfair to his wife and his children and grandchildren?

Perhaps I lack understanding about the thoughts and will of God. Im not blaming or murmuring against God. I dun want to be led by Satan to think that God is heartless and all that. But just quite saddened by the fact that someone related to me can just die so suddenly and there is nothing I can do about it. I wonder if I'll see him again..

I really have no mood for any other things now. But i've got like tons of work waiting to be done. what should I do.... ):


" Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." " James 4:13-15

(a email I received)

If you read the book of Job, you will notice that the first thing Satan touched was not Job's children. The first thing he took was the livestock (including cattle [or oxen] and sheep). In the culture of the Old Testament, Satan had destroyed Job's ability to worship when he took away the man's herds of sacrificial animals. Only after he took away Job's ability to worship was Satan able to touch anything else in his life.

The devil is a compulsive thief and liar, and his favorite target is worship. He doesn't steal for love, nor does he steal for greed (although he would if he could). He steals for revenge and is motivated by hatred.

Lucifer was created to worship God, but tried to steal it for himself. He separated himself from the purpose for which he was made and he hates anyone who does what he can no longer do -worship God.

Take a moment to inventory your life. Begin by examining the way you spend your time, and compare those notes with your priorities in life (if you have written them down). Is God first on your list and in your life? Do you spend more time worshiping Him than you do watching TV news programs or mowing your lawn? Is there a thief in your life?

Worship is the jugular vein of life in God's kingdom. If Satan can stop your worship, then he will have access to anything else in your life. If you read the very last chapter of Job, you will notice that an interesting thing happened.

Is Satan wreaking havoc in some area of your life, in your family, or in your local church? Does he seem to be almost impervious to all the usual weapons of spiritual warfare? Has Satan stolen your worship?

If he has, then he has deprived you of your key to intimacy with Divinity. Jesus Christ is the Door, but your worship is the perfume and sweet offerings you bring to God to express your love for Him.

Change direction and force the issue right now. Begin to worship God, no matter what your circumstances look like.

Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to The Church for a face-lift.

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hmm interesting. I shall go read Job and when I gather more thoughts, i shall blog on it. (:

took the river boat tour today! like finally. at least we did something different today (: but I realised I should have spent more time enjoying the scenery in quietness. wasted! haha

it's quite difficult to tell what is the way pleasing to the Lord. I am often met with situations whereby I have to make a certain decision and I trrry to base my decision on God's standards. But because I don't read the bible daily, I realise I really do not know what I should do, what I shouldn't do sometimes. aaaahhhh.. I pray that God always guide and steer me in the right direction in whatever that I do.

The sermon today really edified me. The title of Pr Chin AQ's sermon was "A New Commandment (2)". I am kind of disappointed I missed the first one. Did he give that sermon on a Tuesday night service? Anyway, today, he touched on two main points. Firstly, why did Jesus give this new commandment? Secondly, how do we love one another?

I dun think I will go into much details. I will basically highlight the main points and the points which brought new perspectives and understanding to me.

Love is the new commandment that God gave men. Love God, love men.

I used to separate love and the law (commandments). Or rather, perhaps I didnt know how to reconcile them. But today, I could finally see the link. In romans 13:9-10, it clearly says that keeping God's commandments equates to love. When we do not murder, do not covet, do not lie,.... these are actually acts of love we have on our neighbours. "Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law."

Next, in John 14:15, Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Many in the world today claim that they love God. But on what basis do we make that claim? Love have to be expressed through action, not just mere words. And God already made it very clear to us - "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."

Therefore, do you also see that, by keeping God's commandments, we are actually loving men (and God). And if we love God, we will keep His commandments. Love and the law go hand-in-hand and cannot be separated!

Then how do we love one another?

Not by the love we have for God. But by the love God has for us. John 13:34, Jesus said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another." because our love for God is everchanging. Sometimes, we sing praises of thanksgiving to God. Other days, we murmur against Him. But God's love never change. He loves us as much as he did since the beginning. He never fails to forgive us if we are truly repentant.

But can we just love God, and forget about men?

We cant either.. because "Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:20-21

But why did Jesus give this commandment? Shouldn't love come from a willing heart? If we do it simply because it was commanded, wouldn't that be a little fake?

Other than the reason being that love is the fulfillment of the law, Christ gave this commandment precisely because He knew that man is weak. Often, we only love those who love us. How many of us can truly love our enemies? But God wants us to "love your enemies, do good to them..."

Finally, what really touches me is this last point. That Jesus had the authority to command us not because He is king and has the power or anything like that. But because He has first set the example for us to follow, because He has first loved us. He came down in the flesh in humility, loved us unconditionally by suffering for us and forgave those who were against him.

I hope netball recre wont close down because of my (non)action. ):

God, please help!